Shinobi Way
by Cloudx9
Summary: A new game has been released: Naruto Welcome to the Ninja Way. Excited to play the game, the main character finds himself mesmerized by how life like the game really is, he feels like a real shinobi. He soon finds out the game isn't just similar to reality, but it is reality. Trapped by the creator, Nile and all other players find themselves living the way of the shinobi.
1. Year 2226

The door swings open as Ashton runs into his room; Aluminum bag in his right hand, dangerously hot bowl of shrimp ramen in his left. He rushes to his 24-5Di television, the new updated version of the 23rd century that allows users to essentially interact with whatever is on the screen as if the viewer were actually part of the program. "Ash, don't be on that game all night, I saw on the news that its bad for your health!" My mother warned from up the stairs. I slurped a mouth full of the shrimp ramen from the bowl as if I was immune to the heat and ran to close my door. They say everything is bad for you in this century, but we'll develop a cure for it just like how we developed one for Cancer and it will be replaced again by another virus just like how we're searching for a cure for Mechanical Nano-Interference- The fatal virus that damages the central nano-chip that everyone has implanted in them at 1 week old. I guess its just Mother Nature's way of saying stop fucking with me. Drinking up the last bit of my ramen broth, I tap my wrist and call my best friend Nick. We had both just purchased the Naruto: Welcome to the Ninja Way game, a revamped and recreated game of the Naruto anime from the 21st century, and were ready to live, I mean play the game. The game was like every typical MMO game made now a days, where you essentially enter another dimension and become your created character. Except this game featured a role playing society to capture the essence of how life may be like living in a Naruto ninja world. Everyone who bought the game would be regular shinobi who could work their way up to become the Kage of a village. The Kage's and their advisers already set in place were the lucky few who were accepted into the beta version. They were not only gifted with knowledge of the game, but they were also ascribed certain abilities due to their titles. This game also boast another feature, every character you see in the game is real, meaning that the NPC's were all played by real people, people who worked for the company.

"This is about to be Dope," I said excitedly to the phone on my wrist. "Dope?" He laughed. "Nobody says dope anymore you mean its about to be Crystal, you my friend have been watching to many old movies" He said. " Yea yea crystal whatever" I said annoyed by truth of his comment. Nick had been my best friend since birth and we knew each other better than our own mothers did. It was probably because we did almost everything together. By everything I mean we had beaten almost every game together because that's all we ever did. We lived as if playing videos games was almost better than living itself. "I just started my game" Nick said as I started mine simultaneously. The last Naruto Shippuden theme song played in the background. Then Japanese characters for the 5 ninja villages appeared on the screen. On top of them was a health warning: playing this game for a long period of time could cause cerebral damage... blah blah blah. I exited the message and immediately a play button popped up in between two massive doors like you were entering a ninja village. "Alright, I'm about to enter the game," I said to Nick. "If you can add me on a friends list or something I'm going to make my name Nile I said. " Alright, I'll name mine Alev, its Turkish for flame." he said proudly. I laughed, "You always pick the weirdest names, but did I tell you I met this girl earlier when I was buying my game?" He repeated my laughter, "You didn't get her Codes ( What kids call digits in this century) though." "I mean I didn't but she said we could meet up in the game, she was so Hi-tek (Provocatively beautiful; sexy)," I responded. He laughed again, "Ok then what is her character name?" I paused how could I forget to ask her what she would name her character. " "Exactly, you're acting so LAN, but alright I'm starting, see you in game" he said and then the light on my wrist turned dark. I laid in my comfy game couch, clicked play, and closed my eyes.


	2. The Game

The Five Hidden villages appeared again, except this time you could choose telepathically which village you want to be from. I chose the village hidden in the Mist, as I was a little of a water element buff. The screen zoomed in on the village, then through the mist, and then it zoomed in on a 3 story building, to a room on the second floor, until it finally arrived at a mirror. In the reflection of the mirror was a half-naked character with random features. Next to each of his features was the word of each corresponding part of the body and at the top and option to choose the gender. I started with the hair making my character have a pony tail similar to that of Shikamaru's. I then moved down until I reached the feet. I made my character look like a combination of Shikamaru, Haku, and myself; with scrubble turning into a goatee. "Character customization is really detailed," I thought. "Its probably because there will be that many players in the game." My customization of the features of the character was followed by a height and age selection, I chose to make my character 5'8 and 15 years old, I wanted my gaming experience to be as realistic as possible. After selecting the features and the height and age, my character turned to a closet and a wardrobe where I could select what he would be wearing. As I was selecting, my character was actually reaching in the closet and wardrobe finding the clothes that I chose. I chose an outfit that looked exactly like Shino's in Naruto Shippuden except all black and without the glasses. My character finished by tying his headband around his head. Then the screen turned black. Suddenly in the darkness, five element orbs appeared. They were Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water. I guess these orbs represent chakara elements so being the water buff that I am, chose water. It allowed me to choose again so my second choice was wind. After choosing the screen went black again. This short time of darkness was followed by the word Kekki Genkai and it had highlighted options for which ability I could choose. "Sweet, I'll make my shinobi like Haku" I said choosing his blood line ability. After I chose, darkness covered everything again, but this time when I could see again, everything was different. I was finally in control of my character, looking at this new world through his eyes. I looked at the ceiling, then at my hands, I was definitely in control of this body. After getting used to moving a character that I created myself, I realized that I was actually laying down. I got out of bed quickly, moving felt more automatic than I thought it would, and ran to the mirror. I appeared in the mirror, but this time with no options to change my features and with a strange light blue steak that stretched from the front of my head to the end of the hairs that were tied up. "I guess this is how I'll look forever" I thought, thinking about how life consuming this game would be. "Man this has to be the most Crystal game I've ever played!" I heard someone shouting from outside of the door. "Don't say crystal, we gotta act the part, but yea man this shit is dope!" Another voice exclaimed. I moved to the door like a shinobi, back against the wall, ears perked up, right hand on my kunai pouch. I had Kunai! I reached into the pouch and saw 12 razor sharp knives ready to be thrown. The kunai weren't the only things that surprised me, but I was also surprised at how fluidly I moved to the door, Like a real shinobi! The mechanics of this game were definitely better than any game that I have ever played. After getting over my surprises I heard more people talking outside and with no cries for help or the sound of metal clashing, I decided it was safe enough to go outside. I opened the door, the piercing sharp rays of the sun did more damage than any kunai I was expecting would. After my eyes adjusted to the light, I was surprised again by how real the game looked. I could see the rust on the railing in front of my door, the dew dripping from a humming bird's beak as it was drinking from a flower. Perhaps what surprised me the most was how the female characters on the ground below me looked. I mean usually female game characters can be hot to an extent, but these characters looked exactly like real girls. I took in the scenery for a while before I realized that everyone was actually headed in the same direction. Testing out the mechanics of the game even further, I hoped off of the second floor where my room was onto the ground. I felt the shock wave through my body as I stuck my landing, two feet like a pro-gymnast. "That was pretty cool dude," I heard a high pitch voice coming closer to me. "I really wish I didn't make my character 7 years old, I don't even get a headband until I graduate the academy and become a Genin." I looked around and then finally down until I saw a kid. "Dam I'm really glad I decided to make myself 15 years old, I guess it was shinobi intuition" I patted myself on my back inside my head. "I'm sorry about that kid, what's you name?" I asked the pipsqueak. "Ok dude I'm not a kid in real life I'm actually 13, and the names Aqua." He said crossly. "To make things worse he was really a kid in real life and he picked a name like aqua, no creativity whatsoever," I laughed in my head. "Oh well Aqua I'm Nile, do you know where everyone is going?" I said talking slowly as if I was talking to a baby rather than a 13 year old. Before I could finish my sentence Aqua was running in the direction that everyone else was headed. Yelling back in my direction he said, "The MizuKage is about to give the opening ceremony, you fucking dick!" Its always funny how the youngest kids in every game always have the worse language. I ran in the direction of the crowd and the loud murmur of voices, lets see what the MizuKage looks like.

When I finally got to where everyone was gathered, I saw a tall building covered in moss here and there that stretched so high that I couldn't see the top due the to mist. I looked around and saw both female and male characters as kids, as teens, some as adults wearing an assortment of clothing. Everyone however looked completely different from the other. Spanning the the crowd my eyes landed on a character that looked like someone's grandpa. He wore all black robes that had a hood which he had taken off. He had a long white Gandalf like beard to compliment his Gandalf like hairstyle which complimented his old hunched over stature. His eyes looked kind of scary though, almost lifeless. I chuckled, "What a troll." In the middle of my observation a voice from a plateau like building in front of the really tall building began to speak,

"Attention shinobi of Kirigakure, I am Yagura, your MizuKage, I welcome you" he said with confidence. The Mizukage looked and sounded exactly like Yagura from Naruto except he was a little taller and he boasted the Kage ensemble. He continued, "As we all know, the game was just released simultaneously across the world, so every shinobi, except those who were allowed access to the beta have equal skills sets," He paused. "The game is based on similar laws to reality so your character will age, feel pain,and grow physically just like if we were in the regular world. Since this is a shinobi world, you will find that there are rules from the regular world that do not apply" He paused and turned to his left, "For example..." Standing to the left of the Mizukage was a shinobi wearing a gas mask and clothes that resembled a pinstripe paunch o that was tighter the closer it got to his head. The ninja was unnecessarily tall and made the Mizukage look like a child. When Yagura looked in his direction the shinobi weaved hand signs so rapidly my eyes could barely keep up with the movement of his fingers. "Summoning Jutsu!" He said with a deep thunderous voice. He bit his thumb and thrust his palm onto the ground and a cloud of smoke appeared and when it cleared the giant gas masked shinobi was in the shadow of what looked like a giant bear with a skunk like tail and snout. The Mizukage continued, "We as shinobi are gifted with the ability to manipulate chakara and as shinobi of the mist we boast specialty in the greatest element, that of Water" He paused this time smiling before he started speaking again, "We shinobi of the Kirikagure are the best shinobi in the ninja world and we shall prove that to the other villages either by diplomacy or by war, let all fear the showers of the Blood Mist." The crowd cheered on cue and I found even myself yelling "Blood Mist" as if I was under some genjutsu. Suddenly the sun turned black, the sky illuminated with a red glow. In the face of the sun a human face appeared that looked just like the old shinobi I had saw in the crowd earlier. Its eyes moving like a baby that realized it could see for the first time. It said, "I am Tonori Miyazaki, better known as the creator of this game. However, all Shinobi must refer to me as Madara." As he said Madara the ground began to shake making everyone tremble with fear." He continued, "Mother Nature has become despised with the insolence of human kind and has blessed me with the power to bend reality. From now on this is you're reality." I looked around to see if everyone was just as confused as I was. "You shall be trapped here forever, but if you die your life shall disappear from both worlds." He was about to continue talking when I heard a familiar voice, "Why don't ya shut up jackass, this is a game, I'll sue your ass if anything happens to me for real fucktard." I looked over to see Aqua yelling at the sky. Aqua's character then appeared in the sky like he was being recorded on TV. "I will make an example of him," the sun said. As soon as he said this the old man I had saw earlier in the crowd was bending over in front of Aqua, face to face. One of his eyes had the rinnegan pattern the other a sharingan in the tsukuyomi pattern. The sky then showed Aqua in a different place. He was nailed to the ground and crying out in pain. There were also clones of the old man, each holding a large stone. Each of the clones began to put the stones on top of Aqua, each stone applying more weight causing Aqua to cry out in an inhuman-like sounding pain. the process continued and restarted for what seemed like days until the sky returned to its red glow. I looked at Aqua in the crowd, snapping out of the apparent trance we were in, and saw that he was on the ground; the old man was nowhere to be seen. Someone ran over to check his pulse, "He's dead" the person said trembling. " The black sun began to speak again, "If you die in this world you die in both worlds" He said in an eeirie voice and then continues speaking, "You as shinobi will make this world realistic, I have gifted certain shinobi with kekkai genkai abilities while others are just regular shinobi. In a shinobi world villages must compete for resources and revenue so each village will have a feudal lord that they must protect or their village will be utterly destroyed. Villages can be employed by other feudal lords to gain more revenue and resources based on the strength of their shinobi. Welcome to your new reality." The sun and sky then turned back to their natural state, the shocking words resonanting in the air, "Welcome to your new reality."


	3. The New Reality

Shortly after the foreboding message from the creator of the game, who calls himself Madara, The Mizukage wasted no time and began securing the village as well as sending a black ops troop to escort the feudal lord to the village. He had his main shinobi take count of the number of shinobi that are part of the village. "Get in line everybody!" shouted a women with hair like the 5th Mizukage from Naruto. She had an eye patch over her right eye wearing an all white lab coat with what appeared to be all black leather overalls underneath.. She was holding a clipboard that had all of the names of the shinobi in the village and their currnent rankings. "I am Nova 2nd in command of Kirikagure as well as the commander of the black ops of the mist" she waited for everyone to understand her title. "Right now our village is composed of our confident leader, Yagura the Mizukage, Me, Nova the Mystic, Vander of the Smog ( the guy with the gas mask from the ceremony), 11 beta testers who are our black ops, 100 useless Genin, and 55 imbeciles who decided that they wanted to be runts in the academy, in that order," She let everyone soak in her insults, "With the statistics I've pointed out its safe to say that if we were attacked at this very instant we would be dead, and we've all seen how real the death is here" She paused and stared, a look that made everyone freeze. " My job is to whip you nin into shinobi, you will receive a number from this black ops member here," She pointed to the black ops member on her right,"After receiving your number all 1's will report to the main gate, 2's to the ceremonial ground, 3's to the academy,..." she continued but I blocked her out, distracted by the thoughts in my head, " I was a real shinobi, not a person in a world controlled by limitations that were set upon me by people I've never met, I could do anything." Others may have been shocked by the death of Aqua and I would be lying if I said that I wasn't too, but something about his death made me feel alive, like I had been dead in the other world and this new world was what life really was. "Hey you with the pony tail!" Nova yelled at me, " The fuck are you doing?" her voice brought me back and at the same time scared me, maybe I wasn't so ready for this ninja world. "Yes Nova, I mean Boss Nova, I mean..." She interrupted me, "You're a number 1 report to the main gate now!" My legs began to move by themselves as I found myself walking briskly towards where all the other 1's were headed. I felt like her gaze was always on me so I arrived pretty quickly to the main gate. There, me and my fellow number 1's were greeted by a black ops member wearing his mask that was painted like a fox. "Hello everyone" the black ops member said.

"I am not as loud or as direct at speech as Nova is,but I will turn you into shinobi by the end of the month." He finally took off his mask. His face was a pale white, and his hair matched. He had squinty eyes and a face that never seemed to droop out of a sly smile (Picture Jin from Bleach). He took an unnecessarily long pause and said under his breath, " At times I feel like I may have picked the wrong village." He then raised his voice and said, "Nonetheless, I am here, you are hear, and I will teach you how to kill." I could feel my demeanor as well as everyone else's around me drop. "Yea that's right shinobi's do kill" I thought. The black ops member than began to walk towards the main gate which I hadn't noticed until now was open. "Uhh sir or whatever your name is, I thought she said no one could leave the village" said a shinobi in the group. This shinobi has short dark blue hair that turned white once it reached the front of his head. He had on a black V-neck shirt with a small v right below his neck. He also had on gray shinobi pants that met right above his shoes exposing only a little bit of his skin. He had his head band tied around his torso so that it went diagonally across his chest which I noticed strapped a 4 foot scimitar and its sheath to his back. The black ops shinobi paused and threw a kunai in a motion that appeared to be undetectable to the human eye. The kunai grazed the cheek of the shinobi and then the black ops member turned only his head to face us. I couldn't tell if he was angry but his sly smile and sneaky eyes sent chills down my spine. He continued walking and of course my group composed of 15 members followed.

We walked for what seemed like hours. I could tell we were no longer in Kirikagure because the mist no longer covered everything. we were in a forest that would be pitch black if it wasn't for the streaks of light that pierced through holes in the canopy. "My name is Kitsune, but just call me Kit" the black ops member said after he had finally stopped. "I believe the best way to train people into shinobi is to place them in a position where they will be killed. The demeanor of the group dropped again. "What's up with this guy and killing?" the shinobi that spoke earlier in the village said to me in a whisper. Kit continued, "I have marked the path with my kunai, if you have objections I suggest you leave now you could be killed" he said all in one breath. 10 minutes passed and 8 shinobi cracked under the pressure of just waiting and left. I looked around only the shinobi with the scimitar, 2 girl shinobi, 3 male shinobi and myself remained. After another extended period of time Kit began talking again, "Form your hands in the shape of the tiger" Kin's two index fingers and middle fingers then met at the top of his hands as he brought them together. "Mold your chakara until you can feel it in your feet," he continued "I shall return" and he vanished. We practiced doing this for several hours not saying a word to each other. By the 7th hour I could pretty much do it at will and I noticed that everyone else in the group had grasped the concept as well. "I'm exhausted" said a girl in the group who was identical to the character Anko from Naruto, except she looked younger and was shorter. "I'm Styx nice to meet you," The shinobi with the scimitar said smiling ear to ear. the girl shinobi rolled her eyes. As Styx was beckoning for the girl shinobi to reveal her real name the ground began to shake. "Does anybody feel that" I said. Nobody had noticed it before but now it was apparent. The ground began to shake louder and louder as if something was moving closer. "Over there" one of the other shinobi pointed, "why are the trees bending like that." Everyone in the group directed their attention to where the shinobi pointed to find that the trees were being either broken or bent at a rapid pace. A couple minutes later we could make out the image of a monster that looked like it was charging for us. "Aww shit" Styx said. Without asking any questions I ran in the only direction that seemed logical, away from the monster. the other members in the group decided to follow suit. I ran through the trees getting stabbed by some and scratched by all of the other ones until I heard the sound of rushing water coming from ahead. When I finally got to where I heard the sound coming from, I saw that it was a violent river right in front of me. The other shinobi in the group finally caught up to me only to see the same dilemma. "Do you think we could swim across?" the girl from before asked. "I'd rather try than be eaten by that monster back there" one of the male shinobi said. "Don't be stupid, we'll just have to fight it or something" Styx commented back unsure of what he said. "You can fight that thing i'm leaving" the shinobi said jumping into the river. at first it looked like he could make it across, but then a strong current hit him and just like that he was gone, devoured by the water. We all looked at each other in fear. And to make things worst, the monster appeared to be coming closer. we all turned to see the monster in the distance at least 50 paces away from us. "I have got it" the girl that looked like Anko said as she joined her hands together to form the tiger sign. the soles of her feet lit up. She took one step on the river and then another, and then another until she was skipping across the river. Before she got to the other side Styx and I were already matching the idea, not moving as briskly as she had. We were then followed by the other girl in the group and one of the male Shinobi until, 1 then 3 then 5 shinobi had arrived at the other side of the river. I turned around and yelled across to the last remaining shinobi on the other side, "Form the tiger sign, mold your chakara and come across and hurry." The shinobi looked at the water and looked just as pale as the river. He began to cry and looked at us. We were standing in awe, all of our mouths open to what we saw on the other side of the river. Standing behind the shinobi was what appeared to be a giant rat with large fangs protruding from its mouth. The shinobi on the other side saw our expressions and turned to find the creature's open mouth above his head, drool dripping on his forehead as he turned around. The smooth but violent rushing of the river was broken by the screams of the shinobi and the crushing of his bones in the creatures mouth as it savored every bite. We looked on in horror. Unaware of our surroundings, Kin appeared behind us, unnoticed and said, "lesson number 1, Shinobi of the mist know only blood and the power of rushing water." we all turned to face our mentor who stared over at the creature with the same sly eerie smile he always wore. He started to walk into the woods, we all followed none of us looking back.


	4. Mauro the Fox Spirit

Our group continued on for some time. The 5 remaining of group one began to lag behind their instructor. The forest was dark, besides our panting only the sounds of owls and other creatures hidden amongst the brush could be heard. Suddenly we heard a monstrous howl. It resonated throughout the forest coming from every direction. Kit stopped; catching us off guard.

We all stood behind him not making a sound as he continued to look forward. Finally he broke the silence, "Lesson two: Water divided is nothing more than rain drops, but floods can destroy nations." He then continued walking.

We looked at each other confused, "I don't know if its because I'm tired or what, but I have no idea what he meant." Styx said. He was hunched over, breathing deeply as the palms of his hands were on his thighs.

I looked around and found that all of the others had succumbed to similar positions. I too found myself exhausted and out of breathe. "This world is real." I thought, as my group continued on.

Sweat poured down our faces as the air got more humid. The only thing that kept us moving was the fear of the giant rat creature catching up with us. We all wanted to be closer to the safest thing possible, our instructor.

"Kai, I'm tired" The other girl shinobi said. She was talking to the other male shinobi. Her pink eyes stared up at him. As the two lagged a few paces behind the group. He said nothing, but picked her up and let her sit on his shoulders.

For the first time I noticed his size. He was the tallest of the group, but his silent demeanor acted as a distraction. It was easy to forget he was even there. Not to mention that he never spoke.

Styx noticed that I was deep in thought as my pace was beginning to get slower.

"What, can't keep up anymore?" He smirked.

I looked at him and ignored his comment. His smile turned to a frown as he realized that I would not feed into his strategy to provoke me.

He now looked back at the other two and his eyes widened. "Yo, who's that" he pointed. Everybody stopped and turned around to find nothing in the direction that he was pointing.

"You're so annoying" the girl that looked like Anko said as she rolled her eyes.

"I'm not playing I saw something, I mean someone standing their next to that tree." Everyone continued to look behind. Nothing was impossible in this new world. Kit stopped for a moment to look back, then continued walking again.

We continued on, assuming that if a threat were to appear our sensi would protect us. The density of the forest around us began to thin. A little ways up ahead we saw a whole in the forest path that let the moonlight shine in. More holes like this one soon appeared until we were no longer in the forest.

We were now in a wide open meadow that was enclosed by forest all around it. The cool breeze brushed against my face. I closed my eyes letting it refresh me a little. A cloud moved over the moon for an instant as we continued to walk towards the center of the meadow.

"What's that Kai?" The other girl in our group said as she pointed to the center of the meadow. The cloud that was covering the mood had now moved. Letting the moonlight illuminate a two story house that stood boldly in front of us.

We continued to approach it, following our sensi. The house looked old and battered. It appeared to have been there for a long time as the paint was peeling off of it. Something about the house gave off an foreboding aura.

As we got closer to the house I could feel the anxiousness of everyone around me. I figured they too felt some form of mistrust about it.

"Kai, I don't like this" the second girl shinobi said. She had spoken the minds of everyone in the group. I wondered what Kit was planning; Was this another test?

The wind picked up, and then I noticed something odd about the one of the windows, There was someone standing in the top left one. I stared for a minute making sure my exhaustion wasn't deceiving me. Unaware of my position I continued to walk until I ran into the back of my sensei.

*Smack* He had paused abruptly again.

"What is it sensei" the girl that looked like Anko questioned.

"We're here" He said without turning around. Everyone looked ahead of him at the house.

"We're where?" Styx asked.

"Mauro" Styx said ignoring his question.

The confusion continued as we looked at our sensei.

He repeated what he had said again, "Mauro."

We looked around as nothing seemed to happen.

"uhh sensei what are you saying?" The girl that looked like Anko walked up closer to him now.

Once again, he spoke, his voice always low, as if he was whispering to the wind.

"Mauro."

"Alright guys I feel like this is another test, be on guard." I said, unstrapping my kunai pouch.

The wind picked up again.

The door to the house began to move slowly until it was completely open. Although the moon continued to illuminate everything in the meadow. The entrance to the house was pitch black.

A figure started to appear from deep within the open door. As it got closer it got smaller until it was completely outside of the house.

"Hey there sonny" it said in a dry old voice. What now stood in front of us was an old lady. She was hunched over and carried a wooden cane. She smiled as she walked forward to Kit.

"Sonny, do you remember that time when I used to feed you milk and berries? They were your favorite." She said now reaching out her hand to touch him.

As if she did not exist, Kit walked around her and continued to the house.

"Sonny, it's me sonny, don't you recognize your dear Grandma?" She questioned, tears now beginning to pour from her eyes. Kit continued to ignore her.

"Kitsune, Kitsune listen to me." more tears began to roll down her eyes as she tried to pursue him to the best of her ability. She tried to increase her speed, but fell down face first, hitting the ground.

The girl that looked like Anko immediately dashed over to help the elderly women.

"Thank you there sweety, now what is your name." The old lady squinted as she dusted herself off.

"My name is Umrika, but you can call me Umi" the girl said handing the old lady her cane.

"Ah ha. So that's your name." Styx smiled as he approach them. Umi rolled her eyes.

"Mauro, we'll be staying here for the next few days for their training." Kit only turned his head to the side as he walked into the house. He then disappeared into the darkness.

"Ahh fooey. You've always been an emotionless bastard. I wonder how you act in that other world." The voice of the old lady now turned raspy and deep. We all jumped back startled.

"Relax ya bunch of pansies, You guys really didn't think I was an old lady right?" the old women paused and looked at our faces as if waiting for an answer, but we all stood there emotionless. "Ahh well, looks like we've got a lot of work to do." the old women continued.

*poof*

A large white cloud of smoke appeared around the old women. As it began to clear a taller figure now stood in the place of the old lady. When the smoke cleared a white fox stood on two legs in front of us. It wore an all white Kimono with a black paw imprinted on the back of it.

It looked at all of our faces again and then slapped its face with the palm of its paw. "You guys are hopeless." It then held out its paw to Umi. "Well at least you were kind enough to help me sweetheart, the names Mauro."

Umi hesitated before grabbing his paw. "Hey" she said shyly.

He then approached and asked us to introduce ourselves; we gingerly gave him our names.

Alrighty, so we have the beautiful Umi, Styx, Nile, Kai, and the pure of heart Lilly," he smiled squinting his eyes, "I know you guys must be tired I'm not like that heartless Kit so you guys can rest and eat in my place." He then started walking to the house that the moon still illuminated.

None of us moved. The fox continued forward until he realized that no one was following him.

"Guys, I know this world is new to you, but if you don't grow some balls you will be killed." This assured us a little as we had already seen how gruesome this world could be so we started to walk forward. This new world was not for the fearful, weak hearted, or ball-less for that matter.

The fox laughed, "There we go, it's not like I'm going to eat you guys..." It paused, its eyes moving back and forth between all of our faces "At least not yet." It burst out into hysterical laughter.

We stopped immediately and braced ourselves. "Is this guy serious or?" I whispered to Styx.

"Ok guys I was just playing. You don't really think I'd eat you right?" None of us moved. "Ok whatever, suit yourselves, you can stay out there if you want." The fox then disappeared into the darkness.

"I think its ok guys." Lilly said now hopping off of Kai's shoulder.

"I mean Kit did walk into the house unafraid?" Umi chimed in.

"We should still be on guard though, this could be another test." I said taking the first step towards the house. We all moved towards the entrance before gingerly walking inside. The air in the house was cool and relaxing, unlike the humid hell we had just left. We found ourselves in a long corridor which had massive pillars that were definitely larger than the house itself.

"How the hell are these so big?" Styx said touching a pillar to make sure it was real.

"Grrr Boo!" Mauro popped out from behind the pillar bearing all of its teeth in Styx's face, he fell backwards startled to death.

*Shhhwoosh* four kunai came flying in the direction of the fox. It dodge in a cartoon like manner.

"Guys guys, relax" It started to laugh again.

"Where's Kit." Umi said angrily.

"Kit probably went to sleep, I don't know, do you see how big this house is?" Maura now continued to walk deeper into the house as we followed.

"Ya see this house is really powerful, it looks small on the outside, but it's a palace on the inside. Ya see I used to work at the company that made this game and this house was like a secret training ground for the select few that would be bold enough to come inside." it paused and turned around to make sure that it still had our attention, "Then Kit popped up and I became his mentor and we trained and he became blessed by the fox spirit, me."

"So fox spirit, you're a real person?" Lilly questioned now walking side by side with Mauro.

We walked into a room with tile floors. Everything else in the room was marble. A savory smell filled our noses.

"Well of course. There are no computer characters in this game, didn't you read the game promo?" it questioned now beckoning us to take a seat at a large marble table. It then went to a large stove furnace and removed a massive cauldron. "Shit.. oww.. this is hot." It said placing it on the center of the marble table. It then went back to the kitchen and got bowls and spoons and placed one on the table in front of each of us.

Mauro poured a soupy substance into each of our bowls and continued talking, "Well you see Madara was the team lead at the time, by the way have you noticed you can't say names from that other world in this world?" The fox continued talking without giving us the option to test his statement. "Madara was always a creeping guy in my opinion. Anyway we made the game perfect as you can see. My colleagues and I were appointed to different positions and what not, our lives would be the game for 1 year, then we could switch with someone else in the company if we wanted."

It placed the spoon back in the cauldron and went back into the kitchen now grabbing cup bowls.

"So you knew this Madara in real life?" I asked as the fox came back to the table with a large canteen.

"Well of course, he was a weird one that guy. I asked him to make me a feudal lord, but nooo, I was more like a riddle character he said."

"No shit," Styx said under his breathe. Mauro squinted his eyes in his direction.

"Anyway, Madara would get carried away spending hours on the game after we would leave the office. We didn't think anything of it, he was a weird guy. It wasn't until the beta testers arrived that we started to question him. Then poof two weeks after, every employee was trapped in the game. At first I was pissed. I had an escort reserved for that night ya know, but then I realized, being Mauro is kinda cool I mean, this world isn't really that bad."

Mauro put his face into his paws and started to sob violently.

"Mauro are you ok?" Umi said concerned.

"bahahahaha" Mauro said laughing hysterically, "You guys are so gullible."

"Anyway, that's that story. Now lemme tell you guys about your sensei. He was the only beta tester to come in this house let alone the meadow. People are scared of the forest and our rat neighbors ya know. Anyway, so here comes this white haired kid with blood on his face walking into the meadow. "How did a kid get to the meadow" I was confused. But anyway, At the time I'm thinking I'm going to get this kid good. So I transform into a naked girl, right with like big ta'tas and a curvy physique, kind of like you Umi, although your ta'tas could be bigger"

Umi's face turned red as Styx, Kai, and myself all looked in her direction with big eyes.

"I walk out the house as if I'd been hurt, and you know what Kit does? He throws a kunai at me, a fucking kunai! So then I have to transform back to normal because I'm thinking this kid is here to kill me, but eventually we fought a little and he passed out right in front of me. He looked so cute and innocent, cold, but still cute and innocent. So I decided to take him in and train him. 4 whole months and poof, that's why he's so strong.

"So you're Kit's master then?" I asked as the fox was licking his bowl.

"I guess you can say that, even though Kit doesn't show it, I'm probably his only friend, and he appreciates me."

The fox started to sob again. His face covered by the bowl, " I really hope he appreciates me because he's my only friend." The sobs turn into full blown cries as the fox continues to burry his face inside the bowl.

"Umm are you ok, Mauro?" Umi asked.

The fox continues to make sounds with his face in the bowl. Until finally his cries turn into squeaking laughter.

"gotcha again!" He starts laughing more loudly now.

Our faces turn blank. "That's it i've had it with your little jokes." Styx says now standing from his chair.

The fox raises one eyebrow, "Oh yea? and what are you going to do about my jokes while in my house huh?"

Styx reaches for a kunai.

"Relax, Styx, it's not like you can beat him, plus he gave us food and shelter." Umi chimes in.

"Well said by the young goddess Umi" Mauro says crossing his arms in order to mock Styx.

Styx face turns more aggressive and he throws the kunai at Mauro, but before it can reach him, another kunai comes and changes its trajectory.

"Thank you, Lilly, that might have killed me" The fox says dramatically.

Lilly reaches in her kunai pouch preparing another one.

"Everyone stop throwing kunai, we're just tired" I try to lighten the mood before the situation gets worse.

Styx prepares to throw another one in the direction of Lilly this time, the fox smiles.

Suddenly Kai stands up aggressively, "If you throw a kunai at Lilly, I'll kill you."

Everyone's face drops except Styx who throws a kunai in the direction of Kai.

He lifts his bowl up to shield himself from the kunai, but in the same motion throws a kunai in Styx direction with his other hand.

*ca'ching* the trajectory of his kunai changes direction as I throw a kunai to protect Styx.

"Guys! stop it. Don't you realize that if you die here you die foreal!"

Everyone lowers their guard, remembering the cruel deaths that we not too long ago have seen.

The silence of the room stretches for a long time. The air still thick with tension however.

"OK guys, you've all had a long eventful couple of days, how about you get some rest." Everyone stands up from the table as the fox motions for us to follow him again.

Once we leave the kitchen we head down another long dimly lit corridor until we come across two huge double doors. Mauro walks up to them and pushes hard until they finally open.

"OK rookies, the boys rooms is the second door on the left and the girls rooms if the forth door on the right. I'll see you guys bright and early for your training tomorrow."

The fox the turns around to leave the room.

"Wait what's in the other doors?" I asked.

The fox turns around slyly and smiles, "Well I wouldn't go in those if I were you."

The two big double doors close loudly as the fox walks through them.

We all look at each other. Styx is the first to start moving to the room that the fox has designated for us.

"Are you guys going to be ok?" I asked before entering into the room.

"If you two don't throw any kunai's at us anymore then maybe we'd be safe." Umi replies aggressively.

"Look it wasn't like that..." I was about to say when she interrupts me, "It isn't like what? As of now I trust that sneaky fox more than I trust you two idiots." She goes into the room.

Deathly silence fills the hall way.

"Kai, can you walk me to the room?"

Kai and Lilly then walk into the direction of the girls room.

I sigh before finally walking into the room.

Inside of the room I find three cot like beds spaced evenly away from each other. Cobwebs fill every wall of the windowless room. On the cot closest to the right wall, Styx was already knocked out buried beneath the itchy looking covers. His sword and all of his clothes laid against the wall in front of him.

I went to the bed against the wall on the opposite side of the room from Styx and followed suit. When I got in the bed I found it to be more comfortable then it looked, but I was right about the covers, they were as itchy as can be. A testimony to the once again established realness of this world. "Sheesh we really tried to kill each other, it had to be because we were so tired" I said out loud as if talking to someone. I rolled over to look at Styx who was now snoring loudly. I let my thoughts wander about what training would take place tomorrow and my exhausted body let sleep take it.


	5. An Interesting Turn of Events

*Smack*

I rolled over to find that the door was the source of the sound that had awaken me from a deep much needed sleep, and the culprit...

"Hey Nile, you up?" Styx whispered as he stood in the front of the door in the pitch black room.

"No I'm not" I responded coldly.

He moved cautiously around the room trying to find his bed.

"What were you doing?" I asked now sitting up in my bed.

The sound of the springs on Styx mattress squeaked, an indication that he had finally found it.

"I'm hungry man, there's no food any where, plus I couldn't sleep with the bear snoring."

Kai's snoring echoed throughout the room on cue.

"See what I mean?"

Styx's mattress made more noises as he tried to get more comfortable.

The emptiness of the room intensified every single sound. Between Kai's snoring and Styx's restlessness, I was never going to get back to sleep.

Not to mention the fact that Styx had made me take my hunger into consideration.

"Do you know if it's morning time yet?" I asked now standing up from the bed.

I used the wall to guide me to the door.

"How should I know?"

"Well you did leave the room." I pushed the door open letting light from the dimly lit hallway illuminate the even darker room.

"Where are you going?" I could see Styx face as he turned over looking at me.

"To find food"

"There is no food, I looked everywhere we can't even leave the hallway those two big doors are locked from the outside"

I looked down the hall at the two big doors we had came in through. There was no handle or hinges.

I looked down the other end of the hallway; it was pitch black.

"Did you see if the girl's had any food?" I asked now walking in the direction of their room.

Not too soon after I got in front of their door, I saw Styx emerge from our room.

"Umi, Lilly, are you up?" I knocked on the door.

The door slowly swung open letting the hallway light shine in. There were three empty beds in the room. The sheets on two of them were messed up.

"Um where'd they go?" Styx asked now standing right behind me in the doorway of the room. We both walked in the room to investigate, but found no sign of either of the two girls.

The dim light from the hallway was suddenly eclipsed. "Why are you two in the girls room?" Kai asked rubbing his eyes.

"Well we came looking for food, but then they weren't in here." I said now patting down one of the beds to see if I could find out any more information.

I peeled back the itchy covers; nothing. I scratched my head as I continued to look around the room.

"We have to search for them." Kai said now walking back into the hallway. As he moved, the light from the hallway shined on a sliver of white material protruding from underneath one of the pillows.

I lifted the pillow to find a note.

"What's that?" Styx asked.

I moved into the hallway to let the light shine on the piece of paper I found.

"Its a note."

Kai and Styx came and stood behind me as we read what it said.

"Hello gentlemen, by this time you have realized that the girls are no longer in their room. Due to your collective actions from earlier, I have taken them captive. Don't worry I haven't hurt them yet, but this is a warning if you throw another Kunai at me you'll never find them. -Styx"

Styx backed up against a wall as both of our eyes were glaring at him.

"Where are they?" Kai said angrily getting ever so closer to Styx.

"What? don't tell me you believe that, Its clearly that stupid fox."

"You tried to kill Lilly earlier I don't believe you!" Kai rushed forward and reached out his arms in an attempt to grab Styx's neck. He maneuvered laterally further down the wall.

Styx immediately reached for the hilt of the large sword strapped to his back.

Kai was about to rush forward but he hesitated when he saw Stxx preparing to unsheathe his sword. He reached for a kunai.

"Guys let's be reasonable here, Kai why would Styx write his name on the note and where would he get the stuff to write it from?"

"Fuck this guy Nile I'm sure Kit wouldn't mind if there was one less person." Styx placed one foot in front of the other, as he braced himself for a battle.

"Styx relax!"

The two stared each other down, waiting for the slightest movement to initiate the battle.

"What are you guys doing?" Umi came walking out of one of the other doors. Styx and Kai both relaxed immediately.

"Umi where's Lilly?"

"Lilly, oh I left her in the kitchen eating, I was coming back to wake you lazy gentlemen up"

"So she's safe?" Kai said now sheathing his kunai.

"I told you I didn't do anything. Food does sound really good though." Styx said as he tied his blade back to his back. The two began walking to the door that Umi emerged from, completely unaware of the quarrel they were just in.

"Why did she say gentlemen, Why'd she leave Lilly, How'd she know where that door led" Questions began to fill my mind as I assessed the situation.

"Ka'ching " metal clashed against metal as Umi blocked the kunai that was aimed at her face.

"What are you doing!" Umi yelled.

Styx and Kai turned around confused.

"Where's Umi and Lilly?" I said calmly, another kunai in my hand.

"What are you talking about? I am Umi" Umi said now taking steps back. She bumped into Kai then dashed behind him, "Guys what's wrong with Nile?" She asked with fear in her voice.

"Woah Nile, I know I talked about killing one more person earlier, but I was just kidding." Styx said walking closer to me in a joking manner.

I put my kunai away, "you're right, I've been a little paranoid being in this house, ya know."

"Yea its alright man and plus you're hungry too."

"So Umi is everything good, he's sorry."

"Its good, but how am I supposed to trust you guys if you keep throwing kunai at me."

We continued the conversation as we walked through the door and entered into another dimly lit hallway.

"Look I just got a little angry at that stupid fox, there's probably something that makes you angry in the air of this house." Styx said, both of his hands behind his head.

"Yea yea." She responded.

I walked quietly. "This has got to be a trick, there's no way that's Umi." I thought to myself, "The way she talks the way she acts, I know it isn't her"

The hallway grew brighter as we entered into a extremely tall room. The chandelier on the ceiling shone brightly illuminating the silverware set neatly on the table underneath it.

"This house is really crazy." Styx looked up at the sheer size of the room.

We continued following Umi until she led us into another dimly lit hallway.

"Hey Umi are you sure you know where you're going?" Styx said looking at the cobwebs that littered the walls of the hallway.

"Of course I do silly, I just came from this way."

We continued to walk in low light until a brighter light shone through a opened door a little ways up the hallway.

"See I told ya, ya know you guys should listen to me more often, ya know." She squinted her eyes satisfied.

I looked at her ever more intriguingly.

When we walked through the doors, we entered into the same kitchen that we had ate in earlier.

Lilly sat at the table her face buried into a plate filled with more food than should probably be on it.

She looked up from her plate with crumbs on her face, "Hey guys! Kai come eat this, the food is soooo good."

Kai smiled at the sight of his little friend. He then walked to the table to join her.

Styx and I followed suit. Soon after, everyone was eating aggressively.

I looked up from my food at everyone around the table. Everyone was digging in with their spoons and forks, but Umi was using her hands.

I chuckled, "How un-lady like Umi, you know you do have utensils."

Umi stopped eating abruptly, her mouth open as she stared at me. Everyone else stopped eating as well and looked back and forth between me and Umi.

Styx started laughing, "I do like my women to have a little savage in them after all."

Umi's face turned red and then she collected herself, "Well at least I'm beautiful and don't look like you ugly boys." She crossed her arms.

I slowly unstrapped my kunai pouch, "Hey Lilly how'd you guys figure out that this door leads to the kitchen?"

Lilly looked up confused, "huh? What door? Marrow woke us up and told us breakfast was ready so we went back the way we came. That reminds me I wanted to ask you guys how'd you know that door led to the kitchen?"

Everyone at the table turned abruptly to look at Umi. Her face was full of confusion.

"Why are you guys looking at me? Mauro told me to lead you guys that way ya know."

I stood up from the table, kunai in hand, "Alright fox where is the real Umi?"

"Nile I've never seen you like this you're really creeping me out." Umi rushed behind the chair to protect herself from the kunai I intended to throw at her.

"Kai why is Nile trying to attack Umi?" Lilly's faced was full of fear as she looked at me.

Styx suddenly got up from the table and walked over to Umi, "Look Nile you've been acting weird since we woke up, how do we know you're not the fox playing games on us." He was now standing beside the crouching Umi."

"You can't be serious Styx. Look at her do you think Umi would ever crouch like that in fear?" I yelled across the table.

Styx looked at the crouching Umi who now looked back up at him, "Styx please believe me, I think Mauro took on the form of Nile and is playing tricks on us."

Styx looked down at Umi for a minute before finally looking back at me, "Look Nile, I've honestly been itching to fight you since we first met, so if you even lift your hand to throw that kunai at Umi..." He paused.

We looked at each other for an extended period of time before I finally spoke, "well let me scratch that itch."

The kunai left my hand as soon as I finished my sentence.

*kaching* Styx reflected my kunai with a kunai of his own, but he was too slow.

As soon as my kunai hit I dashed for him sending a kick straight to his abdomen.

Saliva gushed out of his mouth as he stumbled a few paces back.

Styx bent over grasping his stomach. Again I dashed towards him, this time aiming a kick at his head.

He jumped back and threw a kunai at me. I could hear the whizzing sound as it flew by my ear.

Styx's back was against the wall. He clenched his chest. He then stepped forward, his right hand grabbed the hilt of his sword while he put his middle and index finger in front of him with his other hand.

Both of my hands had kunai as I charged in his direction to prevent him from releasing his sword.

Time moved in slow motion. The spider on the web in the corner of the room watched intensley as its babies climbed out of their jumbled sack of eggs.

"ka'ching" sparks flew as my two kunai collided with Styx's unsheathed sword. We stared into each others eyes.

"Why am I not surprised that its you two making all this noise?" Seconds later, Umi walked into the room calmly. "Look I found sensei." Kit came following right behind her.

Everyone's attention turned to the two that had just come into the room. Styx and I glanced at them before returning our gaze to each other. I smiled, "Geez we were just about to get started."

Styx's face quickly turned into a smile as well, "You got lucky man, I was just about to cut you up."

At the same time, we both took several steps back before sheathing our weapons.

Kit walked over to the table nonchalantly and took a seat.

"That's just what I'd expect from you two, ya know they say if you draw your weapon then that means you're prepared to die, but you two are all talk..." Umi said as she stood up from behind the chair. She continued, "First of all, you guys's aim sucks with kunai, and close combat, 'tuh' do you guys even know what that is? Styx do you even know how to use that sword." Umi broke out into hysterical laughter.

The other Umi now stood in tje doorway confused. Everyone looked back and forth at the Umi in the doorway and the Umi laughing behind the chair.

The Umi behind the chair finally stopped laughing. He looked around the room before speaking, "You guys finally figured it out huh? ya know if I was an enemy all of you guys would be dead by now. I'm sure you heard your sensei talking about water being rain drops or whatever." The fox chuckled some more, "Anyway, this test was to gauge you guys's ability to work together, but im sure you realized you failed, so that means we've got a lot of work to do."

The room got quiet as all of us stood staring at the Umi standing behind the chair.

The Umi behind the chair smacked the palm of her hand against her forehead before a cloud of smoke appeared in her place. The fox stood standing in the aftermath. His white kimono making the room a little brighter.

The room was completely silent, except for the barely noticeable eating sounds of Kit's fork scraping the bowl.

After a while all of us gravitated to the table as if Kits eating woke us up from a trance; The fox however, stayed standing in the same spot.

"Geez, I was so hungry, " Styx said as he began to fill his bowl. Everyone else was doing the same thing.

"Hello! Did anyone hear what I just said?"

Everyone continued to eat ignoring the fox. We were all too hungry to care what he had to say. He finally gave up and began eating as well.

After a long period of nothing but the sounds of eating, Kit spoke, "Mauro, what do you think we should do next?"

The fox looked up reluctantly; he scowled before speaking, "Well like I was about to say," He stood up again adjusting is Kimono as he rose.

"They clearly suck at team work, but its not because they're not good at it. They just can't do the whole shinobi thing yet. "

He took a long pause that made us look at him. The tension in the room grew, as the fox spoke again his voice more serious "I think that they need to be trained individually and since theres only two of us, the best way to do this is, " He looked at the ground as he paused, "Is to throw them into Ragnarok"

Kit stopped eating and looked straight ahead. For the first time his face appeared to frown.

The spider in the corner of the room began to walk over to the freshly hatched babies. The babies all began to move towards the insect carcass that their mother had just caught in its web. The stronger baby spiders were able to make it over the intensely sticky web while the weaker ones got stuck in its grasp. The mother spider devoured the stuck spiders; an attempt to save them from the harsh realities of the world they were born into.


End file.
